Ice-cream-carton filler



July 2, 1929.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

BURTON L. HUNTLEY, OF MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA, ASSIGNOR TO SPEEDPAK 131-]?ENSER CORPORATION, OF MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA, A COREORATION OF DELLA.-

WARE.

IGE-CREAM-CARTON FILLER.

Application filed December 13, 1926. Serial No. 154,411.

My present invention relates particularly to ice cream carton fillers ofthe type disclosed and claimed in. my pending application Serial Number116,833, filed June 18, 1926 and is directed. to an improvement in theform. of the knife-like cutting end.

Generally stated, the invention consists of the novel construction andarrangement of parts hereinafter described and defined in the claims.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings wherein likecharacters indicate like parts throughout the several views.

Referring to the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a view in elevation with some parts broken away and some partssectioned, showing the carton filler and illustrating the invention asapplied thereto; and

i Fig. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary section taken on the line 22 of Fig.1.

The character or indicates a. cylindrical paper carton. A body of icecream is inclicated by the character 6. The carton a, is of such sizethat it may be freely telescoped into a. cylindrical metal shell 3 thatserves as a carton holder or container. At its lower end or edge thecylindrical container 3 is formed with an annular knife or cuttingportion 4 which, as shown and preferred, is made as an element separatefrom the shell.

3 but is permanently and rigidly secured thereto by sweating orotherwise so that it practically becomes an integral part there of. Thereduced upper portion of the an nular knife 4 is telescoped into thelower end of the shell 3 and forms a ledge or shoulderat 5 on which thelower end of the carton a rests. This ledge 5 is not greater, butpreferably slightly less in width than'the engaging end of the carton a.

Both the inner and outer surfaces of the annular knife 4 are conical butthe outer surface has a greater angle to the axis of the container thanhas the inner surface of said knife so that the cutting edge of theknife at 6 will have a diameter that is somewhat less than the interiorof the carton a. In practice, I have obtained the best results by makingthe inner surface of the annular knife 4 at the angle of about eightdegrees to the axis of the shell or container 3 and making the outersurface of said knife at an angle of approximately twenty degrees to theaxis of said container. The importance of this arrangement will bepresently noted.

To further increase the efficiency of the knife, its cutting edge 0 ismade in the form of a circluuferentially extended wave in which theprojecting and the re-entrant portions are of approximately the samecurve. In practice I have found that a cutting edge of this wave-likeform will not cause the container to drift or shift out of its initialaxial position. while being forced into a body of ice cream; and,moreover, I have found that by very slight rotation in either directionwhile pressing the container into a body of ice cream will greatlydecrease the amount of pressure required to force th container into theice cream.

The carton filler illustrated being of the type indicated, comprises inaddition to the main shell 3, a cap-like head 7 that is displaceablyconnected to the shell 3 by leveracting members 8, the exactconstruction and arrangement of which need not for the purpose of thiscase be further noted. The numeral 9 indicates an operating handlesecured to the head 7. The numeral 10 indicates a cutting wire extendeddiametrically through the shell 8 just below the ledge or shoulder 5 ofthe annular knife 4:.

In the use of ice cream carton fillers as hitherto designed, it has beenfound that because of the excessive pressure placed upon the ice creamforced into the paper carton (1 a greater amount of ice cream figured inounces would be loaded, for example, in a quart carton than "as receivedby the dealer from the ice cream 1nanufacturcr so that it has usuallyhappened that the dealer in selling his ice cream will run short on theamount purchased by him. Moreover, when an attempt is made to force theice cream into the carton under excessive pressure and frictionalcontact between the ice cream and container, it has been difficult tocompletely fill the carton, and if the carton is not completely filled,the purchaser naturally and correctly thinks that he is being givenshort measure. It has been my purpose in designing the cutting end ofthe carton container to provide an arrangement that will give both theretailer and the purchaser a fair deal; that is, that will enable theretailer when he has purchased a certain number of gallons of ice creamto correctly dispense the same in quarts or pints and thereby give toeach customer, in units of weight, his proportionate share in acompletely filled carton; and in practice I have found that thearrangement herein disclosed and claimed will accomplish just thisresult In the use of the above device the cylinder of cream that isbeing forced into the carton will be cut of slightly less diameter thanthe interior of the carton and hence will be moved into the carton undervery slight friction. Figure 2 shows the parts in exaggerated dimensionsbut in practice I have found that the cylindrical body of ice creamunder the operation of forcing the same into the carton and of its ownWeight will settle slightly and expand as it goes upward through thecarton and Will have slight frictional contact therewith so that whenthe carton is being filled the cream will actually have contact With theWalls thereof and will completely fill the same. Tests show thatthe icecream forced into a carton by the use of this device will havesubstantially the same density and Weight per units of measure as isfound in the body of ice cream from which it Was cut; and this, ofcourse, is fair both to the retailer and to the purchaser. It will, ofcourse, be understood that by rotation of the container the wire 10 willcut off the ice cream immediately adjacent; to the end of the carton.The etlicieney of this device has been thoroughly demonst'ated in theuse of this device.

Vhat I claim is:

1. An ice cream carton filler comprising a true cylindrical cartoncontainer formed at its receiving end with an annular cutting knifehaving conical cutting surfaces that diverge from the cutting edge, theouter surface of said knife having a greater angle than the innersurface thereof to the axis of the container.

2. An ice cream carton tiller comprising a true cylindrical cartoncontainer formed at its receiving end with an annular cutting knifehaving conical cutting surfaces that diverge from the cutting edge, theouter surface of said knife having a greater angle than the innersurface thereof to the axis of the container, said container having acarton-engaging ledge at the upper extremity of the conical innersurface of said knife and the cutting edge of said knife being of lessdiameter than said ledge;

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature.

BURTON L. HUNTLEY.

